Conventional peroxycarboxylic acid compositions typically include short chain peroxycarboxylic acids or mixtures of short chain peroxycarboxylic acids and medium chain peroxycarboxylic acids (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,200,189, 5,314,687, 5,409,713, 5,437,868, 5,489,434, 6,674,538, 6,010,729, 6,111,963, and 6,514,556). Medium chain peroxycarboxylic acid compositions have been developed for antimicrobial applications, but have not previously been observed to have activity against arthropods.
Arthropod (e.g., insect) pests have plagued mankind for millennia. Consumers and businesses spend billions of dollars each year on goods and services aimed at controlling these pests. Unfortunately, many pest control agents are toxic to humans or smell bad.
There remains a need for compositions that can reduce an arthropod population, for example, without unacceptable toxicity to humans.